I personally don't see how receiving communion in the hand is so terrible. I consider myself a very devout catholic, I bow before receiving him, genuflect before every tabernacle and even do the sign of the cross whenever I drive by a church.
Christ at the Last Supper, handed them the Eucharist, he didn't place tiny pieces on the tongue.
However, with that said, I would gladly kneel and receive the Eucharist on my tongue. If that is what the Holy Spirit wants, then that is what I will do.
The Church was very small at that point. Later, abuses came up, and the Church, in her wisdom, stopped that practice. The potential for those abuses have not ended, so why was communion on the hand allowed?
However, all of the Apostles were ordained priests.
The apostles were priests, not laity.